What is the difference between the different types of martial arts? For instance- karate, ju jutsu and tae kwan do? I am looking to put my two boys (age 3 and 4) into some type of martial art. Not sure what is best for them. What do you recommend?

I am hoping to only commit to one day a week. It looks like tae kwon do is supposed to be done multiple times per week.

At that age I'd probably just check out the schools and see what instructors you like if this is just for exercise or to get the crazy out of them. Personally I don't think I'd even be putting a 3 or 4 year old in martial arts classes. Do they even teach 3 year olds? I mean seriously, the kids arms are way too short and probably way too flexible to pull of any sort of arm bar. I'd go with tae kwan do if you want your kids to be able to break a bunch of really thin boards, karate if they're being picked on by any kobra kai type kids at school, and jiu jitsu if you want them to injure their joints at a young age. Good luck.

My kids, aged 4 and 7, are in JSC Tae Kwon Do on Main Street. They love it! Master Park is excellent with kids. It's excellent for physical fitness and discipline as well. Check out http://www.jsctkd.com for more information. I believe the youngest they take is 4 yrs old if they are able to follow instruction.

I visited multiple Martial Art places (Karate, Ju Jitsu and TKD) around Milton before deciding on JSC. In my opinion its the best one. Yes generally they should go multiple times per week, but im pretty sure they have options for 1 or 2 days a week as well.

My suggestion is to try a trial class at a few places to ensure that the place you select is right for you.

MJ609 wrote:

HI,

What is the difference between the different types of martial arts? For instance- karate, ju jutsu and tae kwan do? I am looking to put my two boys (age 3 and 4) into some type of martial art. Not sure what is best for them. What do you recommend?

I am hoping to only commit to one day a week. It looks like tae kwon do is supposed to be done multiple times per week.

There are a number of reputable classes in Milton area. Some are more true martial arts, some more just play (esp if mixing in younger kids)You really need to see what you like. Like someone else pointed out take advantage of trial classes (everywhere does them)

Prices are all over the place (and many have confusing structures, eg cheaper classes but then pay an extra fee for registrations/uniforms/gear, some are 30 mins, 45 mins, or 60+ mins per class, some are 1, 2, 3, or even 5 days per week, some mix daycare/afterschool programs with martial arts classes, some give students gym access before/after class, some are cash-discount or tax free places)For full time its $100+ per month at least

The most expensive part is training gear if required (most do not let you use competitors gear so re-purchase if change school & kids grow quickly)Still from what I see it costs less than most other kids sports/gyms

We've been attending taekwon-do for 4+ years now - my son recently achieved his first degree black belt and my daughter is working on her red belt. I was a black stripe (one before black belt) before an injury to my knee took me out for training.

Within TKD, there is WTF style and ITF style. They are pretty different. In Milton, there are two ITF style schools. Personally, having training ITF, that's what we like. There is a new ITF style school open in Milton, my friend and now instructor who has been training for 20 years has recently opened up. He's a 4th degree certified instructor with the ICTF. This is a proper school - not some kids play gym. While the kids classes do some times involve a little fun, there's purpose to each class. The beginner classes are 45 minutes. Once they move up a couple of belts, they will get 1 hour classes.

In contrast to what Mr. Peppermint said above, the rates for Advanced TKD Academy (145 Nipissing, Unit 8 ) ranges from $99 per month (if you go monthly) to $949 for a full year (if you pay up front for a full year, you get 13 months of membership, so works out to $73 per month). You have unlimited access to classes (there's classes everyday that your child could attend, except for sundays as they are closed).

The most expensive part isn't the training gear here - a full set of gear, WHEN they need it (they don't need sparring gear until they reach yellow belt, which is about 6+ months in depending on how quickly they pick it up), it's $220. This includes a helmet, gloves, foot protection, mouth guard and school embroidered gym bag. My children still have the same gear they bought 4 years ago and they still fit in it and it's still good. If the child has proper and usable gear from another school, there's no restriction on using it. The only other cost would be the uniform at $85.

I'm still working on the website, but it will give you the schedule and location/phone number - please don't mind how it looks right now as I'm not done

Come try some trial classes - Tell Mr Toor that Deep sent you. What's really nice right now is that we have about 40 students training, so it means smaller class sizes. This allows for more focus on each kid.

(they don't need sparring gear until they reach yellow belt, which is about 6+ months in depending on how quickly they pick it up)

Yellow?Although I had never seen that school others were saying Green (1 even Blue) before real sparring (I am not counting the times I saw them let the beginning student essentially using the more advanced student as a kicking bag)

@ $220 that is cheapest rate I ever heard of (as is the prepay discount) but I suspect both are due to newer gym and recruiting more membersI can't imagine prepay a year upfront though (since need to see kids interest / aptitude first)

Deep wrote:

Within TKD, there is WTF style and ITF style.

WTF was renamed WT since the previous acronym had some negative connotations

Last edited by Mr.Peppermint on Sun Oct 22, 2017 10:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

(they don't need sparring gear until they reach yellow belt, which is about 6+ months in depending on how quickly they pick it up)

Yellow?Although I had never seen that school 3 others were all saying Green before real sparring (I am not counting the times I saw them let the beginning student essentially using the more advanced student as a kicking bag)

@ $220 that is cheapest rate I ever heard of (as is the prepay discount) but I suspect both are due to newer gym and recruiting more membersI can't imagine prepay a year upfront though (since need to see kids interest / aptitude first)

It's not abnormally low for the gear price - we started at a school in Milton, left for a school in oakville (too many politics at the first school), and now have come back to Milton to my friends school. The equipment price was pretty stable between all. In fact, the ICTF pricing is fairly standard for equipment - it's in the $250 range max for the most part.

Prepaying for a year makes sense after you see if they like it for a month or two. You'd be surprised, the vast majority of the kids and adults signed up at Advanced are yearly memberships. In terms of the rate, no, that will be the standard rate for Advanced. It's not a promotional rate or something like that. Of course, some increases may come over the years, but it's not going to be massive jumps. In fact, the school we were going to in Oakville was even less expensive and they have 280 students in a 7000 sq ft facility. Advanced is one of the lowest priced in Milton, as was the other school we were going to in Milton. The ownership of that school changed hands and I think believe pricing will be revisited by the new ownership. The change of hands of ownership didn't have anything to do with profitability.

Advanced will be offering a 3 month special soon for new students if the previous poster is interested - It's be a good chance to see if they like it.

In terms of belt - WTF and ITF style TKD have different belt systems. ITF goes White, Yellow Stripe, Yellow, Green Stripe, Green, Blue Stripe, Blue, Red Stripe, Red, Black Stripe, Black. Even at Yellow is mostly about getting the kids used to wearing the equipment and light contact. They aren't going full out on each other or anything like that. It's mostly about acclamation. Up until recently, there was only 1 school in Milton that was ITF, now there are two, so likely you were talking to WTF.

Just dawned on me that WTF also uses chest protectors and shin guards in their sparring - ITF does not. This may be where the added costs are coming from that you are referring to.

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